The Los Angeles Lakers appear willing to be aggressive in upgrading the roster this offseason. They already have some very good pieces like Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves on the roster, but what they don’t have is a capable big.
Jaxson Hayes is a free agent, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll be bringing him back after a rough playoff performance.
He was essentially out of the rotation for most of the team’s Round 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers want a significant upgrade at center, but it’s going to cost.
Los Angeles does have some appealing trade assets. According to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks are already being talked about as possible trade partners.
“People, including the Lakers’ scouts and executives here in Chicago, have openly spoke about the team’s needs at the center position — an obvious priority for Pelinka and Redick,” Woike wrote.
“The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big, and there really aren’t any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton and Dallas’ Daniel Gafford.”
Mavericks May Be Apprehensive to Trade With Lakers
If the Lakers want Gafford, things could get complicated. The Mavericks already made a big trade with Los Angeles that was met with swift backlash when they dealt Doncic.
According to Woike, the Mavericks may prefer to avoid dealing with the Lakers for the time being.
“Gafford, we know, is a surefire Doncic fit because of their time together in Dallas,” Woike wrote. “He’s about to enter the final year of his deal and plays on a roster with Dereck Lively and Anthony Davis, making it unlikely that there’s more cash headed his way from the Mavericks.
“The trouble, of course, is that people around the NBA wonder how it would look if Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison engaged Pelinka and the Lakers on another trade after the last deal between the teams was so unpopular that it caused protests.”
If the Lakers are offering an objectively strong package for Gafford, it’s hard to imagine the Mavericks would actually turn it down simply due to optics.
What Are Lakers’ Best Assets?
According to Woike, the Lakers don’t want to trade Reaves unless they can get a high-end center. Gafford and Claxton are good players, but may not be worth Reaves, who appears to be an emerging star.
Woike detailed what the Lakers’ best tradeable assets are.
“According to rival scouts and executives, the Lakers best’ assets (minus Reaves) are their 2031 first-round pick, second year wing Dalton Knecht and a bunch of expiring contracts,” Woike wrote. “Some combination of them would be a must in any deal the team would make for a center.”
Knecht and some draft picks could be enough to get a player like Gafford or Claxton, but to make the money work, the Lakers may have to consider adding Rui Hachimura to any center trade.
